Summary/Disclaimer: Time for the first chapter of When Dusk Falls. Enjoy the 2000-word chapter. I don't own Destiny, Bungie and Microsoft do.
(Venus, Wintership Simiks-Fel, 2 months before events of Destiny 2.)
There was an unspoken rule that only the Fallen House that owned a Ketch was allowed aboard it.
That rule was being broken today, dozens of Dregs, Vandals, Captains, multiple Barons, and the Archon and Kell of House Winter, Devils and a Baron from the Wolves were aboard.
Absent, were House King, and House of Wolves, Draksis growled, he should have known Skolas and the Kell of Kings were too arrogant to attend this meeting… One which would determine the future of the Eliksni.
"Enough, let this meeting be called to order…. Draksis, Kell of Winter, may speak first…"
Variks stated, slamming his staff to the Ketch floor, every Fallen Soldier in the throne room was silent.
"I know many of you wish the other dead…. And I know that we all seek the Great Machine to be reclaimed…. Long have we led our houses to war against the Guardians as they are called."
Draksis started, this got many Fallen chattering, Draksis sighed, he knew the Eliksni were arrogant and liked to be alone.
"But our raids cannot persist… Our war has driven us to the brink of extinction in this system…. If we continue to slaughter like this, we will be dead in months… If not Weeks…"
Draksis stated, many of the Fallen were silent, a few, which their Captains forced silent, screeched at this.
"Which is why I believe… We must talk to the Guardians… To form a new House as well… One which we fight as one…"
Draksis ended, this sparked a variety of talks, many thought Skolas would be a fine leader, others wanted their Baron or themselves to be Kell.
One voice broke the mold, it was a female voice, a Baron.
"And who have you thought noble and worthy in combat to claim the Title of Kell of Kells… Skolas tries and yet his attempts to unite us spark war… Hence my departure from his service…"
The Baron stated, this was Skriviks, the Sharp Eyed, she was one of Skolas former Barons, and had since with the help of Raksil and Thaviks the Depraved, they had begun ideas of their own house.
The one which Draksis was proposing now, the House of Dusk.
"It is one of the Vanguard… His son… Sam…."
Draksis muttered, this sent the room into uproar but Skiviks eyed the hologram of the boy with interest.
"Come with me…. Now…"
She hissed, 2 Captains, 6 Vandals and a squad of Dregs followed her as Variks turned to Draksis.
"The boy must prove he can lead… Or the House of Dusk will not survive…."
Variks muttered, Draksis nodded, the other houses would still exist, but the House of Dusk would lead them.
And Sam would be its Kell… And perhaps, its Savior.
(Earth, Warmind.)
Sam wasn't having a good day, not at all.
He slid over a pipe, firing The Devil you know, the rounds destroyed a few Thralls, the Acolytes followed, their Shredders sending bursts of Void Light at the Guardian.
"Well… This went sideways pretty damn fast…"
Sam muttered, he tore a Voidwall Grenade from his belt and tossed it, it burned the Thralls and Acolytes and even stopped 2 Knights.
"Perhaps I shouldn't have tagged this mission…."
Sam heard from his Ghost, it had been a simple mission, clear out the Hive from a tunnel leading to Rasputin, a simple task.
What Sam cursed at the moment, was the fact that his father had forgotten that the Hive of the Hidden Swarm had infested the tunnel, Sam had only been able to clear out a quarter of the Tunnel before being bogged down.
"Arch, how many magazines I have left?"
Sam asked his Ghost as he fired 2 shots and had to reload, he grabbed an extra clip of ammo from the ground and hooked it to his belt, his dusted Nightstalker Cloak and Stratus Helmet clashed with each other.
Then again, so did the White Cryptid Chest Plate, Order Grip Gauntlets and the Dustwalker boots.
Then again, nothing in his family seemed to mix with the other.
"2, 3 if you count the one you picked up…. There's more than 50 Hive…. And dropping? I'm picking something up…"
Arch stated, Sam and the Ghost peered over the wall and were shocked to see what they saw.
A squad of Vandals armed with Shock Rifles and led by a Captain charged in, the Thralls and Acolytes were taken by surprise, another squad of Dregs flanked them, taking potshots at them with their Shock Pistols, the Hive fell to them.
Sam watched a Captain cut a Knight in half, his Purple Cape flowing in the air.
"Find Samuel… Bring him to the Baroness!"
The Captain roared as the Fallen slaughtered the rest of the Hive, their war cries drowning out the Hive roars.
"Sam… Did they just…."
Arch stated before they heard a thud above them, they looked up to come face to face with a Captain armed with a Shrapnel Launcher.
"Fudge…"
Sam muttered as the Captain turned to his soldiers.
"Alert the Baroness! I, Maksor, have found our Kell!"
Maksor yelled before they started roaring in victory, Sam rose to his feet and they bowed.
"OUR KELL, HAS BEEN FOUND!"
Maksor yelled as Sam looked at his Ghost.
"What just happened…."
Sam asked before Maksor slammed the butt of his weapon into Sam's face, knocking the Hunter out as the House of Dusk carried their leader away, celebrating what they believed to be their first victory.
(House of Dusk Ketch, Ravager.)
Sam awakened to shouting followed by Makor slamming into the wall behind him.
"IDIOT, YOU COULDN'T HAVE ESCORTED OUR KELL TO THE RAVAGER!?"
Sam heard as he rubbed at his head, ever Dreg, Vandal and Captain in the throne room bowed.
"What are you doing?"
Sam asked as 3 figures approached the Hunter, one was a Baroness, the commander of the Ravager, at least until Drake arrived, she carried a Molten Welder.
The second was clearly an Archon, the second in command of the House of Dusk, he too had a Molten Welder and bowed.
And the last carried Shock Blades and a Shrapnel Launcher, he was clearly a captain but an important one.
"I am sorry for Makor's idiot actions…. I am Raksil. Archon of the House of Dusk… You are Kell of Dusk…"
Raksil said with a bow as Sam looked around, Skriviks noticed this and motioned towards the empty throne in the Ketch.
"Sit, and I shall explain, My Kell."
She said, Sam awkwardly walked over and took a seat in the throne, he was used to flying his Jump ship, which Arch was telling him was aboard the ship in the cargo bay.
"You are son of Cayde-6, Hunter Vanguard… Slayer of Crota, destroyer of Oryx, legendary Hunter… Yes?"
Skriviks asked, Sam nodded, he had done that, but he didn't know what the Fallen wanted with him.
"Fallen… Need leader… You… Are leader."
She stated, Sam turned to Arch to explain.
"Rough Guess? Their impressed by everything we've done so far… And their facing extinction from infighting and attacks from the city and other species… Rather then be killed off, they decided to form a New House and invite you to be its Kell… Which means the leader of the house…? So, you're the Kell of… The House of Dusk."
Arch said as Sam looked over the Dregs, Vandals and Captains of the House.
"So…. Who's going to explain this to dad?"
(Last City, 20 minutes later.)
"You can't be serious…"
Sam heard from Ikora, the Ravager hovered above the city, the City's main cannons and Vanguard ships watched over the Flagship.
"Hey, my dad thought a Baron flirted with him…"
Sam muttered, Raksil and Skriviks stood behind him, their weapons at the ready incase their Kell needed them.
"Eh… To be fair…. He does have a point, son, how did you bag an entire House again?"
Cayde-6 asked his Son, the two fallen Nobles looked at each other at this.
"Because of his accomplishments… And because the Eliksni face extinction…."
Raksil muttered in English, Zavala stepped forward and faced the trio.
"And how can we trust this… House of Dusk, and the other Fallen Houses? Skolas and SIVA are still out there, and we don't have many clues on them."
Zavala muttered, Skriviks growled at this.
"Skolas…. Murderer of Wolves… Bane of Venus…. He and his followers make for Venus, attacking House of Winter."
She hissed, Zavala looked at the Baroness in shock.
"You know where Skolas is?"
The Titan asked, Skriviks nodded, she laid a hand on Sam's shoulder.
"She's a former Baroness from the House of Wolves…. If its ok with you, I'd like to take Skolas out… You and the Vanguard can deal with SIVAS…. Not even the House of Dusk know much on the Splicers besides the location of some of their hideouts…"
Sam muttered, Ikora stepped forward, she wanted to know how the House of Dusk planned to deal with Skolas.
"Show us."
She stated and Sam nodded before motioning for the Vanguard to follow him.
(Tower.)
"Skolas is setting up defenses on this plane while he meets with Winter, Skriviks said Aksor, the Archon of Winter, might be in charge of the Wolf forces… Since he was formerly part of Wolves."
Sam explained, pointing to a hologram Arch made as Zavala studied it and Sam spoke up before he could answer.
"Skriviks and me will lead Dusk forces to cut down the troops Skolas brought with him to the plains…. Maksor and Tikkis? You will lead a battalion to cut through Wolves' flank… Draksis should have already engaged Skolas and his forces when we arrive…. If we are lucky we can catch him off guard and end this quickly."
Sam explained as the Fallen Captains chittered in excitement, eager to lead a victory for their house and Kell.
"And what of Earth? You said Skolas would also target the House of Kings and Devils… And most of our Guardians are absent…"
Ikora asked as Raksil and Thaviks stepped forward, having awaited their cue.
"I will hunt down the Silent Blade, Skokla's assassins… Thaviks will lead an assault to hunt down the Wolves who seek Kings… House of Dusk will destroy House of Wolves before they can even strike again."
Raksil said, the Vanguard all shared looks with each other, letting Fallen defend them? There had been crazier things happening lately, but…
"Your Ghost is to give us a full report, and telemetry from the Queen aiding you is to be shown to us as well."
Ikora stated, Sam and Raksil shared a look as the Archon and Kell nodded.
"Deal…. Skriviks, tell the Ravager to pick us up… And to call for another Ketch for me and Thaviks… Longer we wait, the more time Skolas can dig in…"
Raksil ordered as Sam smiled and started walking away with the Dusk Baroness.
"Cayde, we need to talk…"
Zavala said as he turned to the Hunter Vanguard.
(House of Dusk Flagship, Ravager.)
Sam looked at Skriviks, she was the commander of the ship, he was the leader of the house and now commanded Ravager.
"You know, this isn't the strangest thing we've had to deal with…."
Arch muttered and Sam sighed, he had gone from being a reckless Hunter to being crowned a Kell just because they thought he was a good leader?
This was going to be a long lifetime.
Author Notes
Phew, first chapter done! Yes, I know it isn't the best, first chapters aren't my thing. As for why the House of Dusk and the Fallen chose Sam? I will explain it more next chapter. Next chapter will take place on next Wednesday and will show the battle between the House of Dusk and House of Wolves. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!